Fast Facts
Select your city or town to find facts and data on the children and families in your community. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like help finding additional data.

Your Community

Key educational benchmarks

Community

Massachusetts

% of third graders who meet or exceed expectations in reading (Next-generation MCAS, 2018)

%

52%

% of students graduating high school within four years

%

87.9%

Early education and care

% of children under age 6 with all parents in the labor force

%

71.3%

# of preschool-aged (3-5 yrs) children

#

224,901

% of 3- and 4-year-old children enrolled in an early education program (estimate only)

%

59.1%

# of public schools with preschool classrooms

#

515

# of licensed center-based programs

#

2,137

# of licensed family child care providers

#

6,228

K-12 education1

# of students enrolled in public school

#

951,631

% of public school students identified as economically disadvantaged

%

31.2%

% of public school students whose first language is not English

%

21.9%

% of public school students receiving special education services

%

18.1%

% of public school kindergarten students attending full-day kindergarten

%

96.4%

Child population

Birth-5

6-18

Community

Massachusetts

Community

Massachusetts

# of children

#

442,592

#

1,074,498

% of children living below poverty2

%

16.1%

%

13.9%

% who are Black or African American

%

7.4%

%

7.3%

% who are Asian

%

6.3%

%

5.2%

% who are Hispanic or Latino

%

16.9%

%

13.9%

% who are White

%

63.1%

%

69.1%

% of children who are another race, or two or more races3

%

6.2%

%

4.4%

1

Community data excludes charter and vocational schools. Economically disadvantaged is calculated based on a student's participation in one or more of the following state-administered programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC); the Department of Children and Families' (DCF) foster care program; and MassHealth (Medicaid).

2

Includes children birth to 17. The 2015 federal poverty guideline for a family of four is $24,250 per year.

3

Includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.

Sources: Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, US Census 2010, ACS 13-17.